Archbishop to host Nov 21 prayer service for Christians in the Middle East

Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron on Thursday evening, Nov. 21 will host an hour-long service to pray for Christians in the Middle East. The service will include participation from Eastern rite Catholics, including Chaldean, Melkite, Maronite, Armenians and Syrian Catholics. Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim and Syrian Bishop Yousif Habash will help lead the service. The holy hour will be at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 9844 Woodward Ave. in Detroit.

“Our call is to stand in spiritual solidarity with those Christians in the Middle East, whose grievous afflictions are the ‘stuff’ of daily news reports,” said Archbishop Vigneron. “We pray that, through the prayers of our Blessed Mother, God will protect them, and protect and preserve their faith.”

The service will include the praying of the rosary, readings from Scripture, and the veneration of an icon of the Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In recent weeks, Archbishop Vigneron has sent invitations to pastors and people of the Eastern rite churches.

In his column in the Nov. 15 issue of The Michigan Catholic newspaper, Archbishop Vigneron explained the impetus for the prayer service, related to his 2010 appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on the Vatican’s Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Church in the Middle East. Read the full column at http://themichigancatholic.com/2013/11/middleeast.

Event Summary

What: A prayer service for Christians in the Middle East, including the rosary, Scripture readings and the veneration of an icon of the Blessed Mother.

Who: Led by Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Detroit, along with Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim and Syrian Bishop Yousef Habash.

When: 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21

Where: Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 9844 Woodward Ave. in Detroit